Former Wyoming Area teacher sentenced for union embezzlement

Michael J. Mullen / TIMES-SHAMROCK
Lisa Barrett, who pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $30,000 in union funds as president of the Wyoming Area School District teachers union, leaves the William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Scranton after sentencing Friday morning.

SCRANTON - The sentence - one year in federal prison - shocked and devastated Lisa Barrett.

A former teacher for the Wyoming Area School District, Barrett had pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $59,000 from her union while serving as union president.

Barrett, 48, illegally used a union debit/credit card on various illegitimate purchases over six years to improve her "personal lifestyle," U.S. District Judge James M. Munley said, releasing new details on the embezzlement charges.

"I am sorry. You have to pay the consequences," Munley told Barrett, who must surrender to federal authorities by March 5.

Munley said he was "concerned about sending the right message" to anyone entrusted with access to public funds or funds for community and employee organizations.

According to the judge, Barrett illegally used the debit/credit card to make cash withdrawals for personal use; buy meals at local restaurants; make retail purchases at Lowe's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Target and Cape May Sandals; and fund trips with friends and family to Cooperstown, N.Y.; Ithaca, N.Y., and Virginia Beach, Va.

Barrett lives in Kingston Township and shares custody of her 13-year-old son with her ex-husband. She ignored the media when exiting the William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Scranton.

She and her attorney, Christopher T. Powell Jr., were expecting a less-severe sentence because of her cooperation with authorities and willingness to pay $59,273 back to the union in restitution.

"You'd have to ask Judge Munley what he was trying to do, but to me, that sentence is severe enough to send a message," Powell said.

In court, Munley said he was planning to impose a more-severe sentence before he heard from Barrett and her brother in-law. When addressing the judge, Barrett apologized to union members and her family.

"I accept full responsibility," she added.

Last February, Barrett resigned as president of her union, the Wyoming Area Education Association, and took a leave as a career-technology teacher, citing "personal and medical reasons." The school board accepted Barrett's resignation as a district teacher at its Aug. 20 meeting.

Her salary as a teacher exceeded $74,000 a year. She started teaching for the district in 1996.

Barrett entered into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in September, and did not reach an agreement on a sentence.

Also in September, Barrett submitted a request to the Public School Employees' Retirement System to obtain her pension-fund contributions over the years plus interest. The agency has not processed her application, agency spokeswoman Evelyn Tatkovski said.

According to Barrett's divorce settlement in 2010, her former husband agreed to pay her a sum of $600,000, waived his interest in their Kingston Township home, agreed to pay all mortgage bills and debts on the property and agreed to pay $1,300 a month in child support until their son become 18. The Kingston Township property has an assessed value of $444,700, records show.

Barrett started embezzling union funds in 2006, authorities said. The union and its parent organization, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, could not conduct a forensic audit to determine the exact amount of how much was embezzled because receipts were not available, the current union president, Melissa Dolman, told the judge in court.

The union has made procedural changes in reviewing expenditures to prevent officials from embezzling funds in the future, Dolman said. Union members have been working under an expired collective bargaining agreement since 2010 and went on strike this past September.

The strike interrupted four weeks of school and had to end to allow the completion of 180 school days by June 15. An arbitrator's decision to try to resolve the collective-bargaining dispute is expected this month.

mbuffer@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2073, @cvmikebuffer

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